


Étoile Filante

by Sleepy_Writer



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Mention of Rape/Non-con, Other, Other tags to be added as necessary, mention of graphic violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 23:09:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 9,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16356071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sleepy_Writer/pseuds/Sleepy_Writer
Summary: The consequences of having a villian-team destroy her capital are catching up to Diantha… Just not in the way anyone would have expected.





	1. Chapter 1

“Well… damnit.” Diantha muttered darkly. She was sitting in the kitchen of the League Castle, one hand holding the spoon she was using to eat her cereal. The other held the letter on official League stationary that had arrived with the mail this morning.

“It has got to be bad for you to be cursing after coffee.” Malva meandered inside, still in her bathrobe and aiming for the pot of coffee on the counter. “Even if I doubt that your drink still constitutes coffee.”

“Not all of us can drink it black as sin.” The brown-haired female countered. “And I have a good reason for it.” She held out the letter. “I’m being charged with – among others – criminal negligence.”

“Wait what?” The Fire-type user whirled around, grabbing the offered paper. “Why?”

“For failing to notice the Team Flare-mess.” She nearly stabbed her cereal with her spoon.

“Shouldn’t that be me for actually being part of it!?” The other female dropped onto a chair at the table herself, putting down the frankly oversized mug of pure black coffee in front of her.

“Apparently I am more too blame since I am the Champion or something.” Diantha dropped her spoon, losing her appetite the more she thought about it. “Worse, they froze my assets in preparation for the trail. ‘So I can focus on the trail and not be tempted to leave the region’...” She sighed, rubbing her forehead.

“That’s ridiculous.” Wikstrom entered as Malva spoke, waving the letter around. “Completely aside of how asinine three quarters of these charges are, how do they expect you to get a lawyer now? Especially one that would dare take on the Pokémon League!? Those do not come cheap by any means.”

“I am well aware of the prices high-end lawyers have, Malva...” Kalos’ Champion remembered the bill she had gotten after being in a dispute with a director who decided halfway to not wanting to pay her fee for appearing in the movie. And worse, considering she still had millions worth of assets, she probably was not eligible for someone representing her Pro Deo. “I’m going to see if they can’t be reasoned with after breakfast.”

“I can join?” Malva purred.

“Aren’t you intending to hunt down Team Flare?” Wikstrom joined the two at the table, having overheard most of their conversation from in the corridor.

“Gotta prioritize.” The Elite Four pointed out. “Besides, as a reporter, I think I am morally obliged to report on this.”

“Malva...”

“Chill. I’m on your side, Diantha.” The Fire-type user grinned widely. “I’ll torch’em for you.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The Pokémon League had its’ own Holo-chatgroup, allowing the members to share news with one another. Within three hours of Diantha returning to from her attempt to reason with the League officials, the news of the imminent trail was spread through it.

“This… this is madness.” Wulfric looked at the woman beside him. They had been eating lunch together by the time they had noticed the news. “How could she have known if even you didn’t see anything?”

“People always desire a scapegoat.” Olympia studied the Holocaster in her hand. “With Lysandre gone – and probably dead, considering what happened – they need someone to blame for the destruction and fear.”

“But Diantha? I saw Lumiose City, I can agree with someone being blamed, but why her?” The Ice-type Gym Leader looked from her to his own Holo Caster.

“The same reason a government will be blamed for a famine through drought. They are the ones in charge.” The purple-haired woman mused, free hand toying with the bangle around her wrist. “We should get to the Castle, see if anything can be done. If anything, we must present a united front.”

He merely nodded, waving the waitress over so they could pay and leave. “So much for enjoying a quiet day before the gyms reopen.”

“Are you getting old by chance?” She lead the way to the car parked outside, pulling the keys out of seeming thin air.

“Perhaps I am.” He countered with a smirk. “Looking forward to being the last Gym people have to challenge?”

“Nonsense, I’ll just send one of my assistants to take over yours. I can do without the paperwork.” She slipped into the driver’s seat, opening the door for him with a light mental tap. “Ice-types are not that complicated.”

“At least I didn’t get defeated with my own attack.” He squeezed himself into the car, wondering why she had only such a small vehicle. “Honestly, you should have seen that coming or something.”

“At least I didn’t lose while having a type-advantage.” Olympia’s eyes briefly narrowed as she started navigating lunch-time traffic in Anistar City. “How could you lose to a Water-type?”

“I think we can safely say that Ash’s Greninja is not a regular Water-type.”

Their friendly squabble was interrupted when Olympia’s Holo Caster rang. A male looking like he was her brother – because, in fact, he was her brother – popped up. “Hey Oly.”

“Two things; I am driving so keep it short, and stop calling me that.” She refused to look at him, leaving him to stare at her profile while Wulfric was holding the device.

“You can’t really expect me to say ‘Olympia’ all the time, can you? Anyway, my 25th wedding-anniversary is coming up in three months. Are you attending?” The man carried a serene smirk that would have send people running had she been wearing it.

“I swear you start this earlier each year.” She briefly glanced over. “What happened to ‘card a month before’?”

“You complained that was too late to ask you.” He countered flatly. “You coming or not.”

“I am driving.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll call you this evening.”


	2. Chapter 2

“But you helped deal with it.” Korrina’s voice was a couple octaves higher than usual. “We all did. Why are they now blaming you for it?”

“Because they want to blame someone and Lysandre is… gone.” Diantha was sitting in an armchair, face buried in her hands. “And I guess I am the best target for that since I was in charge during it.”

“Makes one wonder if they shouldn’t put themselves on trail.” Olympia mused, eyes lidded as she looked at the Champion.

“As if.” Malva muttered, leaning against the table with yet another giant mug of black coffee beside her. “They’d put us all on trail before admitting to any wrongdoing on their end.”

“Still, no offense, but there should have been better targets than Diantha.” Wulfric gestured to Malva herself. “But they really haven’t seen sense?”

“They have latched onto the idea of putting me on trail like they’re Shellders and I am a Slowpoke tail.” The Champion sighed. “First court-session is next week.”

“That’s not much time.” Valeria whispered, wing-sleeves held close to her body. Diantha grunted in agreement, rubbing her forehead. “Did they at least unfreeze your assets so you can actually afford a lawyer?”

“They didn’t.” Wikstrom answered for the actress. “Diantha will have to spend most of the upcoming week trying to play the rules to get a Pro Deo lawyer.”

“If they’ll even let her have one of those, considering she’s worth millions.” Viola pointed out. “Should we put money together to afford one?”

“No.” The white-clad woman looked up. “They want this to be a media-circus. I will not give them that. League business will continue as usual. I’ll deal with this myself.”

“Diantha...” Ramos was stopped from speaking by an uncharacteristic death-glare from the seated female.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“Olympia.” The rest had left, but Diantha had asked the purple-haired woman for a moment longer of her time. “How do your visions work?”

“Strange question.” The Psychic-type Gym Leader stood like a pillar where she had been since entering the room. “I suppose, in short, the more I look for an outcome, the clearer I will see it, but the less the likelihood that it is an outcome set in stone.”

“Meaning?”

“Mmh… what would be a good example?” The older woman moved now, slowly crossing the room to a chair next to the Champion. “I suppose, let’s say you ask me to look at your wedding with Sycamore. I will see every detail; the exact arrangement of flowers, I would be able to tell you your choice of perfume down to the exact bottle… and then decades pass, and you realize it never came to pass because you married Grant.” She tilted her head lightly. “It’s why my most defining sights are those that come upon me unawares. Because I did not look for them at all, they are set in stone.”

“Even if they are vague as all hell.” Diantha chuckled weakly. “’Green fire’? Where did that come into play?”

“I am sure Lysandre can tell you all about it.” The other woman offered a gentle smile. “Shall I next time just show you the vision and make no attempt at determining what’s going on?”

“Please no.” The Champion squeaked a bit at the prospect. “Anyway, so if I were to ask you what would happen if I take up the fight?”

Olympia blinked once, then merely shrugged and pulled her Pokéballs from nowhere. “I can try, certainly. It’s only an indication though.”

“I’ll take it.” Diantha watched as the two Meowstic appeared in the air around their trainer. “Do you perform a ritual or something?”

“Perhaps two decades ago I needed that, but not anymore.” All three Psychics glowed as their eyes closed. Kalos’ famous actress had no choice but to wait, anxious about this newest mess. “I see a war, a battle that will make the League tremble.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” The brown-haired female leaned forward a bit.

“I have seen worse.” The Gym Leader smiled lightly, getting up to return home. “If you ask me, take up the fight.”

“Can I complain if it goes wrong?” They walked towards the exit together, where Wulfric was waiting for his ride home. As the two Leaders were the last to leave, Diantha wandered down into the League Castle’s gardens to take what might well be her last chance of relaxation before the new storm broke.

Shortly after she had sat down, her Gardevoir came out of her Pokéball. “Felt my emotions, didn’t you?”

“Gar...” The graceful white Pokémon sat down as well, leaning against her trainer.

“Well, we’ll see how it well goes.” The human leaned back, looking up at the clouds passing overhead. “That one looks like an Deino, don’t you think?” She pointed one out.

The Psychic-type accepted her trainer’s desire to focus on something else than what was upcoming and also turned her attention to the clouds overhead.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Allortan looked in doubt at the message he had received. Word of the imminent trail of Diantha had started to spread across Kalos through the grapevine. He had heard of it himself and now this mail had arrived.

He was a lawyer, perhaps easily one of the best Kalos had to offer. As such he wasn’t that surprised that a request had come in for him to represent her. But he was quite confused at the hoops he’d have to jump through. Having all assets frozen, Diantha could not pay his fee, but being still in official possession of said assets, she was too rich to be represented Pro Deo.

He chuckled lightly, leaning back in his chair. “Oizys?”

His eldest daughter, working as his secretary, opened the door to look at her father. Her deep-green hair was cut in a short bob that curled upward at the front. “Yes?”

“Do I have time on monday? I received a case then.”

“I’ll check.” She disappeared outside again, leaving the door open. “You do. It was supposed to be your day off with mom though.”

“She’ll understand.” He made a face at the realization that he’d have to wait a good couple weeks for some quality-time with her now.


	3. Chapter 3

“Err… Good morning?” Diantha blinked a couple times at the woman that had appeared on her doorstep on what was ‘far too early o’clock’ after spending nearly the entire night awake with worry. May I ask what you are doing here?”

“Getting you out of bed, I guess.” The green-haired female chuckled softly. “Apologies, I had been assured you were more of a morning person.”

“Normally I am.” The Champion grumbled. “So how did you even get here?” She remembered locking the gate after herself last night. She sincerely hoped the woman hadn’t climbed over it to reach the mansion in Lumiose’s outskirts.

“Right. I am Iozys.” The other woman sketched a small bow. “My father Allortan has been hired as your lawyer.”

“Allortan?” The white-clad woman blinked. “Of Allortan Advocates?”

“The one.” Iozys smiled lightly. “Incidentally, I got the code for your gate from my employer. I assumed they’d warn you I’d be coming.”

“They didn’t.” Half sleep-drunk she stepped aside to let the other in. “Mind if I get some coffee and then you explain things to me.” Before she knew it however, her guest was making her a complete breakfast. It was surprisingly good.

“You’d fit with Malva.” Diantha took a bite of her eggs. “So anyway, Allortan got hired as my lawyer?” She resisted the urge to ask who had won the lottery to afford the man. His office was known to make arrangements for poorer clients – something about asking for percentages of salary, if she remembered properly – but she figured she’d have to put down a fortune to afford him. Especially considering how close the court-date was.

“Yup.” Oizys was nursing a mug of black coffee between her hands. “So he send me over to arrange some things.”

“Huh.” The actress mused. “Who did it though?”

“I am afraid that falls under confidentiality.” Oizys pulled a laptop from her bag. “No worries, no organs or limbs were sold to afford this.”

“You normally accept those?” For the first time in a while, Diantha laughed softly.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“I do hope no one is ever going to ask why I took ‘two sodas’ as payment for representing her.” Allortan snorted, looking at the woman leaning on his desk. “I think there might be some questions asked.”

“You’re a lawyer, it should be no trouble.” Olympia’s two Pokémon were snuggling into several vases on the other side of the room. “It’s not like they look that closely at your tax-returns.”

“You are going to get my license revoked one day.” He leaned back in his seat. “You’d better be glad I own this place, otherwise this very small bill would raise some questions.”

“Just tell people I bribed you to accept it.” The Gym Leader moved to sit in a chair opposite his desk. “I will not have them turn her into their scapegoat for something no one could have prevented.”

“You’re playing with fire.” He leaned his elbow on the armrest of his chair, looking at her through lidded eyes. “Let’s see if the law can be bend the way you want.”

“You don’t need to bend anything.” The Psychic rolled her eyes. “Last I checked, there is no law that says lawyers need to have a minimal fee. I paid you, you accepted, that’s that.”

“Let’s hope my esteemed colleagues agree with you there.” He rose from his seat, meandering over to where the male Meowstic was a ball of blue fur in a glass container. He gently fished the catlike Pokémon out of there, petting him while walking back. The Psychic-type gave no real indication that he minded, in fact purring as he was being held.

“We’ll throw your father at them if they don’t. Wasn’t it said that Allortan Senior can work miracles in the courtroom?” She retrieved her female Pokémon, the white-furred form snuggling onto her shoulder.

“My father is over 70, Pia. He’s a bit too old to go to court like that.” He snorted softly, before being distracted by a message arriving on his phone. “You didn’t tell Diantha I was going to represent her?”

“And have her ask how I can afford you?” Olympia countered. “Allortan, you do not come cheap normally. If we didn’t know each other for over 2 decades, I don’t think I could have convinced you to do it for ‘two sodas’.” She stole his seat while he was still standing in the middle of the room. “Which then would start the entire questionnaire as to how that never came up.”

“And neither of us wants to go into that.” He sighed, taking a seat on the corner of his desk. “You better appreciate me sacrificing a free day for this.”

“You can come over for dinner?” She briefly stopped her petting to allow the Psychic-type to move to her lap. “How’s that?”

“It’s going to be weeks until I get a day off again.” He countered, gently sliding the other Pokémon into her lap as well. “Two dinners.”

“Bribery done.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Monday came far quicker than Diantha would have liked. Granted, she had a lawyer, but considering the League wanted to see blood, she didn’t hold much hope that it’d make any difference.

“Good morning.” The man that arrived her door that day wore an expensive suit and designer glasses with his hair hanging down over his shoulder in a ponytail. “You seem more awake than what my daughter told me.”

“This time I knew someone was arriving.” She smiled lightly, following him down to his car. She wore one of her fancier ensembles that she used to wear for an opening night long ago instead of her regular white outfit.


	4. Chapter 4

“Nervous?” Wulfric asked the Kalos Champion. Most of the Gym Leaders had decided to appear at the hearing.

Diantha looked at the large collection of paparazzi nearby. “Not really. I did everything I could, there’s nothing more I could have done.” She just hoped that she had said that convincingly enough to sell it to them.

The Gym Leader in front of her gave her a crooked grin and then offered her his arm. “Then it’ll be a short day for Allortan, I think.”

“Oh, that it’ll be anyway.” The lawyer smiled smoothly, just a hint of smugness showing on his face as they walked inside the stately building that was the Lumiose Courthouse. “I’ll be home for lunch. Which hopefully will make me forgiven for ditching part of my free day.”

“Wait, you had today off?” Diantha demanded sharply. “Oh my, I...”

“It couldn’t be helped.” He assured her. “This short notice there was no way I could get the date changed. They want your blood, Miss Carnet, the more chance for that, the better.” His smile turned more gentle, one hand resting lightly on her shoulder. “Luckily for you, I am good at preventing that.”

“If you manage, I’ll dedicate my next movie to you.” He had assured her several times that he’d manage to get her acquitted of everything, but it was just so much. The League wanted her blood and one lawyer wouldn’t change that, would he?

“Nice. Can I pick the subject?” He purred now, adjusting his glasses. “Well, we can discuss it later. For now, let’s focus on getting there, shall we?”

She nodded lightly, watching him head ahead. A small shiver ran through her body and she was grateful that Wulfric was blocking her from sight of the entrance. He probably did that intentionally. By the time the other Gym Leaders arrived, she had caught herself again, greeting them with a warm smile and confidence radiating from her. Likely only Olympia would have noticed the ruse, but the Anistar Gym Leader had been unable to be present, having to open the new walkway of the Sundial today.

When they entered the courtroom they found it mostly empty, only a few people being present. Malva was the only person related to the press that was there, probably citing her position as Elite Four as taking precedence and even that had likely only worked under the insistence of the other three. Diantha might be the one who was being led on trail, but Malva’s position was almost – if not even more – fragile.

Allortan was waiting for them, talking to some other men in suits. One of them was old, almost the same age as Ramos, though dressed in a fine suit. She blinked a few times when seeing some rather nasty scars on his face.

“That’s the one that started this.” Malva leaned into the aisle. “One of the higher-ups of the Kalos League, if I caught that right.”

“I don’t think I ever met him.” Diantha tilted her head lightly. “Purely bureaucratic, I take it?” The Elite nodded sharply, moving to sit on her chair more or less properly again.

Diantha took a deep breath before walking up front. The men nodded lightly at her when she joined them.

“Well, I tried to warn them.” Allortan whispered when they took their seats. “You know him?”

“No. Maybe by name, but aside from that… not really.” She smoothed her clothes down as she sat down. “So are you going to tell me what you’re going to do to get me acquitted?”

“Get everything dropped.” He smirked briefly at her, pulling papers from his suitcase. “They have left themselves wide open to that one.”

“Errr?”

“Just watch.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“What I am saying is exactly what I just stated in my opening statement.” The light-brown haired male countered his colleague sharply. “There is no reason for my client to be put on trail and it’s painfully obvious that this is all for the sake of having a scapegoat – and most importantly, wallet – for the devastation caused by Team Flare.” Allortan’s voice had seemingly dropped a few octaves when the trail started. Diantha had to admit she could understand now what people meant when saying he would sound dangerous in court.

“She did nothing to prevent the disaster!”

“ _Malva_ knew Lysandre intimately. Champion  Steven Stone of Hoenn actively _helped_ Lysandre acquire the stone that would grow into the problem it became. My client had no connection to either Lysandre or Team Flare that would allow her to know anything about what he was planning until it actually started.” A few rows behind him, Malva flinched but she couldn’t really refute the statement. She had been part of Team Flare, had even been part of Lysandre’s inner circle and here they were… in a world were he had caused almost more monetary damage than some of the wars he used to give aid after. “You can certainly try to go after them, but you showed your hand by going after my client. You are not looking for who is guilty, but just for the one who has the most money so they can pay your repairs in Lumiose. In that I will admit she is the most guilty.” The smile forming on his face would have looked more in place on a predator’s face when encountering helpless prey. “Guilty for being in the Top Five richest Women on the planet as determined by that one tabloid everyone reads these days? What a crime that is.” He fixed the people next to him with a stare. “You are trying to Tauros-shit your way into my client’s wallet and if you do not stop this at once, I’ll very much enjoy showing you every last bit of that.”


	5. Chapter 5

With Allortan having made the statement, the glove had been thrown. With those few words, he had put them in a corner. With having given them alternate – better – targets, continuing after Diantha would indicate that her lawyer had been right on the money with his suspicion of their reasoning, whether it was true or not.

"I did not expect this." Diantha watched them leave.

"Nor should you." The pale-brown haired male stated softly. "This isn't over. Far from. I have bought you time, perhaps, but not much more."

"How come?" Drasna joined them, arms crossed.

"Because if they do not now also make a move on me or Steven, they would admit that they indeed merely went after Diantha for her money." Malva answered in the lawyer's stead. "They'll regroup, rethink and then redo the entire thing all over again. They have to now, as doing anything else will earn them some loss of face."

"Lovely." The Champion rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Can I call you for the next round as well? Hopefully while this time being able to pay you myself?"

"You know my phone-number." Allortan smiled gently. "Shall I drive you home, Diantha?"

"Yes please. I need to make some calls." She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before they headed out into the paparazzi laying in wait. "Including a long rant about freezing assets like this."

"We can face the reporters for you, if you want." Wikstrom offered. "You can take the side-entrance to the garage. Just wait a bit until we started talking before you drive out."

"I'd appreciate that." The actress was quite relieved, all things considered. "You don't mind, do you?"

"I had worse clients, let me assure you." Allortan lead the way into the garage, opening the door to his car for her. "Ten minutes be enough, you think?"

"Hopefully." She leaned back a bit in the seat. "I assume you agreed with Malva there, so how long until we'll have to do this again you think?"

"Hopefully a couple weeks at least." He reached behind him to dump his suitcase on the back-seat. "Mostly because I will be in trouble if I miss much more free days."

"Again, I..."

"Diantha." He stopped her with a raised hand. "That _mon coeur_ is upset with me for missing a free day does not mean she doesn't understand why I missed it. You are rather popular in Kalos."

"Still." She smiled gently. "I do feel bad about it. Can I make it up to you two? Some dinner, at least?"

"I'd like it, she… not so much." He smirked a bit at her questioning glance. "Diantha, put a powerful man with a woman, what does she become? Only _his_ woman. She prefers if people don't know so she gets judged on her own merits, rather than the merit of being together with me. So we don't really go out together much." He shrugged lightly. "I am sure she wouldn't mind you knowing, but you do have a bit of a problem of getting anywhere subtly. We have had privacy for roughly Oizys' lifetime and no offense, but we'd rather not risk ruining it now."

"I guess I can understand that." Diantha chuckled a bit. "Can I donate a big bouquet of flowers for her at least?"

"I am sure she'd appreciate that." He started the car, cautiously heading out of the parking-garage under the Lumiose Courthouse. When seeing that the journalists had all flocked to the front-entrance, he quickly drove the other way, heading for Diantha's mansion. "Shall I just send you the bill for the bouquet?"

"Just drive past a flowershop."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Thanks for the warning." Steven was lounging outside, having accepting Diantha's call during his lunch-break. "Can I get a piece of your wonder-lawyer?"

"If you help pay, I might consider letting you have a piece." Diantha herself had decided to make most calls while comfortably ensconced on her couch. "I just hope he is still a wonder-lawyer when court starts again."

"If anything, between your and my funds, we can get a small army of lawyers to back him up if necessary." Hoenn's Champion reached for his drink. "Wallace is not going to be happy with me though. He's already getting annoyed with me for staying so long in Kalos."

"In my defense, it's not like we could have seen that coming. Cynthia didn't get sued over her Team Galactic-mess and they wanted to unmake the very world." Kalos' Champion leaned her head back.

"Maybe because there wasn't a tv-crew when Cyrus made his move?" Steven suggested. "Meanwhile, Lysandre announced it on national television – with more people in other regions hearing it through the grapevine – and the final battle was shown live with commentary and some amazing camera-angles. In SInnoh people only found out after the problem was solved what had been going down. You of all people should know the power of a good story."

She groaned at the truth. "I am going to have Malva set a fire to this mess. Let's see how that story will go. You'd think they have better things to do than get even more trouble into the region. People are still recovering from the attacks and now they drag the protectors of the region to court like we invited Lysandre in to ruin Lumiose."

"Politicians can be like that." He offered. "Anyway, what will you do now? Return to League-business and filming?"

"Probably." She reached for the cup on her small table. "Partially I just want to wait until the coming trail and after that start again. But one cannot plan movie-schedules around these things… So I told Kathi to tell the director I'll be back on Wednesday."

"The bane of deadlines." Steven smirked. "So when can I be introduced to my future lawyer?"

"I managed to convince him to have a thank-you-dinner on Friday. I guess you can join then?" A small pop-up alerted Diantha to a text-message arriving. After reading it she snorted before bursting in laughter.

"Something happened?"

"Olympia just send me a message." Diantha struggled to calm down. "Apparently Wulfric told her about today. She thinks it'd be barely enough material to reach the first commercial break on a tv-show episode. If that."


	6. Chapter 6

True to statement, Allortan did not take his significant other to the restaurant that friday. He did take his daughter though, the green-haired woman sitting beside him as he talked business with the two Champions.

They struck up a friendship of sorts over the weeks as the League planned their move. By the time they made it, Diantha and Allortan had formed a formidable team, having been seen several times in public. Predictably, rumours soon started circulating that they were starting to become an item, not helped by Allortan never appearing with any other woman aside from his daughter in public.

“You know, after that Team Flare and the whole trail-thing, I almost appreciate this drama.” Diantha snorted lightly, playing with the empty Pokéball of her Gardevoir. The Pokémon herself was hanging out with several others a short distance away.

“You are not helping matters, certainly.” Olympia pointed out, sitting cross-legged on the bench. “He is never seen with another and neither are you.”

“I hang out with Steven! And other League members...” The Champion countered.

“They are technically your employees… or from another region.” Malva muttered, fiddling with her Holocaster. “People rightfully assume that would make them a bad match… Allortan on the other hand...”

“Yeah, yeah...”

“To speak of other matters...” Drasna joined them as well. “People are starting to wonder if the charity-event is still a thing considering everything is happening?”

“Should be.” Diantha answered. “Even more now in fact, what with someone having to pay for Lumiose’s damages.”

“I thought you were going to do that?” Viola smirked, reaching for her drink.

“I’ll help, but I am not going to pay for everything.” The actress stated. “Didn’t they calculate that the total damages came out to like several billion?”

“And that was only property damage.” One of the others added. “At least the roots disappeared. I would not want to imagine having to deal with those.”

“Thank Arceus for contractors.”

“Out of curiosity, did they ever figure out what the charity-event will be this time around?” She reached for her drink.

“Not last I checked, but there was this thing that distracted me.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Several days later, an internal memo was passed through the League. There would be an internal inquiry as to how two Champions – Steven and Diantha – had missed Team Flare rising to power until it had been nearly too late.

Delegations from all regional Leagues were expected to be there for the event. In Sinnoh the initial announcement arrived in the middle of the night, meaning most of them only saw it the following morning. One who did see it almost immediately was Hearthome’s Gym Leader. Fantina was a night-owl – and a morning person – to the point that most of her colleagues wondered if she even knew what sleep meant. Currently she was taking care of her Pokémon, being distracted by the sound of her computer while tending to her Mismagius.

“Well, that’s interesting.” She recalled the purple form, heading over to the dimmed screen. “Let’s see what they want.”

The Coordinator put the last of her Pokéballs to the side while scrolling and reading through the text. They made those things far too long for her taste.

“Trés dramatique...” Such drama in her home-region. She had seen the reports obviously and family had provided her with recorded footage of the incident itself, but to think that things had come to such a head over it all. She hadn’t really believed it when word came that Diantha was getting sued over it, but now it was painfully obvious.

“Well, guess we will not be seeing much of Cynthia now...” One hand toyed with an empty Pokéball on her desk while reading. “Wonder how long it’d take…?” Last time there had been an enquiry, Cynthia had been gone for months.

Fantina reached the bottom of the document, revealing pictures of Diantha, Steven and the League-member who was heading the enquiry.

“Such scars...” She toyed with a loose strand of purple hair, having already gotten bed-ready. “Bit familiar though.”

One could hear a pin drop when she realised why he was familiar. The next moment, her neighbours could hear loud and angry Kalosian from her house. Thankfully, her walls were well insulated.

Hearthome’s Gym Leader was snarling, having jumped up from her chair. “Why did they not warn me of this!? How do you miss this!?” Flashes of light appeared behind her, her Pokémon having sensed their trainer’s dramatic change of emotions. “Pardonne-moi, my dears. I did not intend to wake you.” Fantina struggled to calm down. “Bad news. Where’s my phone? I need to rant at someone. I would have preferred some warning about this.”

Her Gengar helpfully brought it over, purple smoke coiling around it. “Merci.”

She stared at it. How could they have missed this?

Fantina slumped against the desk.

Calling her family could wait. There was someone she had to get to before the news of this enquiry broke… which would be in the next morning newspaper.

“Return, s'il vous plaît.”


	7. Chapter 7

“I warned you this mess was a bad idea.” Wallace greeted his friend upon disembarking the plane that had carried him and Drake to Kalos.

“Welcome to you too.” Stephen dryly countered. “Also, you did not warn me at all. Just saying.”

“Let him, he had to cancel some Contest-appearances with his niece for this.” Drake informed the Champion. “Who else arrived yet?”

“Unova arrived earlier today. Sinnoh should be through the checkout in a bit, actually… Kanto and Johto arrive tomorrow...” Steven counted on his fingers. “Most of the rest also tomorrow, or the day after that.”

“You’re all staying at the Kalos League castle, obviously.” Diantha pointed outside. “I can call Wikstrom to pick you up or you can take a shuttle.”

“Eh, we’ll take a shuttle. You two are staying here to wait for Sinnoh?”

“Yup.” Diantha shifted a bit. “Though you can join your League, if you want to.” She added in an aside to Steven.

“I’ll stay with you.” He assured her. “It’s not going to be that long, after all. I’ll join them after.”

Wallace and Drake headed for the League Castle.

It was half an hour later that Cynthia appeared with her delegation. To Diantha and Steven’s surprise, the representative of the Sinnoh Gym Leaders was not Byron or Volkner as expected, but Fantina. The two waiting Champions exchanged a look at the sight. The Hearthome Gym Leader was standing out like a sore thumb in her purple dress, her suitcase being twice as big as the others.

Before the Sinnoh delegation had even reached their welcoming committee, she had already been distracted, starting a phone-call within moments of entering the open space where that was allowed and fell behind.

“Welcome to Kalos.” Diantha resisted the urge to ask about the strange choice, instead offering her colleague a warm hug. “How was the flight?”

“Surprisingly calm.” Cynthia answered, stretching lightly. “How are things here?”

“Okay, until now.” Steven raised one eyebrow. “As I am sure you heard, considering you took her along.” He gestured with his head to the purple-clad Gym Leader in the distance. It wasn’t that he disliked the Ghost-type trainer of Sinnoh, but she was considered quite… flighty. Her habit of disappearing from her Gym for weeks at a time was well-known.

“I wasn’t intending to.” The blond Champion answered, looking over her shoulder. “But she called me in the middle of the night – like, at most a few hours after the official announcement – demanding I take her along. About how this is her home-region and all that.”

“The rest of the Top Five heard her through the walls.” Lucian dryly added. “I think Cynthia acquiesced in the end because Fantina would not have stopped otherwise.”

“She was quite out of character...” Cynthia countered. “Besides, she is good at her job when she manages to remember to do it for longer than a few months. Biggest emergency, I’ll send her back to Sinnoh and call for Volkner.”

“I heard that, mon chou.” Fantina joined them, deactivating her phone. “You are gone from the League more than me.”

“But she can afford it.” Steven pointed out. “Champion-challenges are a lot less frequent than Gym-challenges.”

“Let’s not start that right now, there’s a bigger discussion waiting to happen.” Diantha spoke up, stopping what she could tell would be a very insulted Fantina countering. “Are you staying with family or at the League Castle, Fantina?”

“My family lives near Anistar City and while I will certainly visit them – on an off-day...” She added at seeing Cynthia’s face. “I think that is too far to stay all the time. The sessions will be held in Lumiose, will they not?”

“Yeah, in one of the conference rooms of the Kalos headquarters.” They started to head outside, only to be greeted by a small blue blur passing them by and colliding with Fantina.

A small girl was squealing, chattering in quick Kalosian.

“Calme toi, mon chou-fleur.” Fantina chuckled, her hand tousling the girl’s hair.

“I guess your family found you already?” Lucian snorted in amusement, having caught his colleague’s suitcase before it fell over.

“Oui.” Fantina straightened. “My little niece. I did tell my family I was coming to Kalos. Où est ta mère?”

“I am here.” A woman with a strong Kalosian accent spoke up, pulling back the girl gently. “Apologies, she got away from me when she saw your sparkle.”

“Happens.” Fantina snorted. “I did say you didn’t need to pick me up though.”

“Tell that to her.” The woman warmly smiled. “She is the one that wants to go to Sinnoh for her Journey so she can face you, remember.”

Cynthia snorted at that. “Let’s hope she has better discipline than you, Fantina.”

“No.” The mother countered. “She worships my dear sister so much she is becoming like her.”

“I am honestly not that bad.” The Ghost-type Leader huffed in insult. “Viens ici, ma chérie, ils sont des méchants.” She plucked her niece up, settling her on her hip and marched of.

“Tu as failli manquer mon mariage, chère soeur!” Fantina’s sister called after her, causing Diantha to snort and nearly suffocate on held-back laughter.

“Subtitles, if you please?” Steven smiled gently at the scene, arms crossed when he turned to Diantha.

“Fantina nearly missed my wedding.” Fantina’s sister translated for him. “Though I suppose in her defence, she got stuck in traffic for six hours… somehow.”

“And you believe that?” Lucian wondered, one eyebrow raised a touch.

“Well, I was in the car with her.” The Kalosian woman shrugged with a smirk. “My husband has still not forgiven me for the heart-attack that gave him.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

Fantina travelled with her family that day, as the first meeting was set three days after their arrival. She had made arrangements that she would travel back to Lumiose with her Anistar-colleague. Cynthia had begged Olympia to make sure that it happened.

Diantha was beyond amused that her Sinnohan counterpart had so much fate in the Gym-leader she had taken along. Cynthia defended herself by pointing out how easily Fantina got distracted by things.

Fantina was insulted, but was there on the appointed date and time, talking softly with Olympia while they waited for the rest to arrive. In fact, they were there almost as the first, being only beaten out by those living in Lumiose itself.

The first day would only be the reading of the accusation and the consequences of all possible results. Last time, that last bit had taken 5 hours.

“I am looking forward to learning how different this inquiry will be compared to an actual courtcase.” Alortan mused softly when he and Diantha entered. They lived close enough together that they had travelled together, the lawyer picking up the Champion at her home.

“Well, let’s hope you are entertained.” She entered the gallantly held door. “Again, I am sure you cannot do much during an internal inquiry.”

“And again, I beg to differ.” He quirked a small smirk at her, adjusting his sleeves as they climbed the stairs. “You are not the first client I had to represent against their business.” He snorted lightly, looking up at the small group at the top. “Granted, you are the first of the League, but new experiences are to be savoured.”

“So you regularly say.” She greeted the colleagues already there. “I see Cynthia was worried for nothing, Fantina?”

“Of course.” The bright-purple woman smirked lightly. “I do have some standards. I insisted I be allowed to come, it would reflect poorly on me if I then presented a complete no-show on the first day.”

“So what about the second day?” Cynthia demanded, having arrived shortly before Diantha and Alortan hit the top of the stairs.

“Mon chou-fleur, you have some bad opinions about me.” Hearthome’s Gym-leader muttered, crossing her arms. “We’ll talk about this after this mess is over, then you’ll see that I can very much devote myself to things.”

Sinnoh’s Champion didn’t immediately answer, instead looking down the stairs where more people arrived. Part of the group was the man who had started the inquiry, leaning heavily on a cane. She couldn’t help but wonder exactly what had happened to him. She failed to notice the darkening of Fantina’s gaze. Olympia did notice, but said nothing. She had long foreseen this drama when Diantha had asked her what to do. She had also seen her colleague’s rant against the family that had failed to warn her of his involvement.

He also failed to notice that there was anything unusual about Fantina’s demeanor when he arrived at the top, greeting those there. They couldn’t help but notice Alortan got a better greeting than the rest.

“Great, he’s a misogynist.” The actress muttered after he left, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “No wonder he went for me first.”

“Those are still around these days, sadly.” Cynthia rolled her eyes, gesturing through the door he had disappeared through. “Shall we?”

The others consented, heading inside and searching their places. Unlike the other regions, Kalos was expected to being completely present. Likely, had the inquiry be planned in Hoenn, Kalos would only have had a delegation as well with Hoenn being completely present.

The room was gigantic, being enough to house the entire Kalos League – both Gym-leaders and administrative staff – if so needed. Parts of it usually was closed of to keep heating and lighting costs from skyrocketing needlessly, but this time over half had been opened.

The seats had been assigned and the League-members were neatly sorted. For now, one block was for the administrative staff and one for the executive branch, the Gym-leaders, Elites and Champions. Later one of the higher balconies might be opened for journalists and general visitors, but for now the public was barred from being present.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

In the end, it was blessedly short, lasting only a couple hours in total. Fantina promptly decided to go back to Anistar with Olympia to see her family some more and dragged her League-members along with her. Olympia was less than happy with several people cramping into her car and her having to brave Anistar traffic during rush hour just to get Fantina and her guests home.

In the end, she consented, if only to get Fantina to stop pestering her. The elaborate hairdo of the Sinnohan Gym-leader barely fit into the car without being ruined.


	9. Chapter 9

Diantha was surprised when next meeting Allortan. Unlike previous meetings, this time an older man she had never met in person was there. She did realize who it was quickly though. Between looking almost exactly like Allortan – just far older – and several public appearances in the past, she knew who it was.

“Greetings, Diantha.” He greeted her kindly, his walking-stick resting across his legs where he was sitting.

“Allortan senior, I presume?” She stepped up and offered him her hand. He hoisted himself upright, taking it and shaking it firmly.

“Indeed.” He dropped back into his seat, grunting a bit.

“Some news reached me.” Allortan explained his presence, offering her a chair as well. “Long story and one I hope is very wrong.”

“How come?” She looked between them, throwing one leg over the other.

“If true, it could mean a whole different kind of mess.” The old man answered, leaning on the armrest of his chair a bit to reach over to the tea on the desk. “One of my old cases, but I haven’t practiced law for over a decade, so it falls to junior here.”

“Can we maybe just use our first names instead of senior and junior?” Allortan muttered, reaching for his own drink. “You sound far too smug every time you say junior, dad.”

The old man laughed softly. “Fine, fine.”

“Sounds problematic.” The Champion chuckled. “I didn’t notice anything smug, to be honest.”

“You don’t know him.” Allortan leaned back, nursing his coffee. “They say I look like a Sharpedo when I hit a point in court. He like a Slowpoke because his face never changes. It’s the details.”

His father laughed at that. “Very true. I feel like my son has taken to compensate for his darling’s serenity.”

“I wouldn’t call mon coeur serene, father.” Allortan rolled his eyes. “Anyway, back to business. I daresay Diantha didn’t come to hear our family-comparisons.”

“In the end, it would probably be more entertaining than the case. That is mostly necessary.” She pointed out, putting her drink down. “Though I can come back later if your old case needs more time?”

They both waved that offer of. “You were the scheduled talk. The old case will have to wait.” Allortan assured her. “Are you staying to wait, or shall I come over later, father?”

“I’ll leave you two.” The old man rose to his feet again, slowly shuffling to the door. “Try not to hang out too much with her. I’d hate having to clean up the blood.”

“Blood?” Diantha demanded sharply when he had left.

“Mon coeur appears serene, but she can have a murderous temper.” The lawyer smiled lightly. “I have yet to become its’ target, but people say it’s only a matter of time.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“Never again.” Cynthia moaned, burying her face in her hands. It had taken her hours to get away from Fantina and her family – all of which were as overwhelming as the Sinnoh Gymleader – and she was now hiding with Olympia.

The Anistar Gymleader was online, looking for a ticket on the train back to Lumiose. “They are rather infamous for their loud natures.” Lucian against all odds was actually still with them. “Who did you think Fantina got it from?”

“I figured she was a one-off.” The blonde muttered, rubbing her head. “The pink Mareep, as it were. How was I supposed to know that her calm sister was the weird one?”

“Any Anistar native could have warned you.” Olympia put down her Holocaster. “Your train leaves in an hour. I’ll send you the bill.”

“Thank you.” The Champion leaned back in her seat. “So you knew Fantina before?”

“Not that well, there are some years between us.” The purple-haired woman answered. “I had classes with one of her cousins, I believe. I certainly knew of the family. They have grand summer-parties on their out-of-town estate and my family lived relatively nearby.”

“No sleep?”

“Higher than average happiness, actually.” The psychic chuckled, eyes glowing as drinks floated over from her kitchen. “That family is marvelously good if you are a psychic and need a boost. I imagine that is why Lucian is still with them. They are revitalizing.”

“I just find them exhausting, to be honest.” She gratefully accepted the drink.

“Because you don’t get their energy to go along with them.” Olympia took her own, taking a few tentative sips. “Or are used to them. I imagine Fantina alone is far less than her family, assuming you even spend lots of time with her in one stretch.”


	10. Chapter 10

Allortan was studying the drink he had brought to court, leaning back lightly in his seat. The League-members were discussing the events that had transpired in Lumiose and north-Kalos, which was not really relevant to him. He had taking his Holocaster, reading some files while people talked around him.

Behind him, Fantina was also not paying close attention, only dodging Cynthia’s lecture because the Hearthome Gymleader still seemed to be taking notes while also typing a message.

His Holocaster briefly flashed, a message arriving. Throwing a brief look at the room, he opened it. It was a short one from his girlfriend. Smiling, he couldn’t resist first sending a message back that she shouldn’t send him stuff during work. Only then did he read it, moving the Caster into his lap for some privacy. She promptly pointed out that he was reading her message during work.

“If I were a teacher, you’d be in trouble.” Steven briefly leaned over.

“Thankfully, you are not.” Allortan answered softly, closing it. “Besides, I need it to record all this so I can listen to it later. I cannot remember this all in one go.”

Hoenn’s Champion leaned back into his own seat, turning his attention to Diantha as she talked. Allortan briefly glanced at her, but returned his attention to the files he had been reading earlier.

During the break, Diantha sat beside him as they ate lunch. “So what was going on earlier?” She stirred her coffee with a spoon as she spoke. “I saw you smile just as we talked about how threatening the Giant Rock was to Anistar.”

“What can I say, I am jealous of Lady Olympia’s lawn-decoration.” He smiled lightly at the Anister Gym Leader.

“The Sundial does make for a good decoration.” She calmly agreed to Valerie’s barely contained snort. “You do not want to know the price of the non-included walkway however.”

“I hope the thing was insured?” Wulfric wondered from the other side of the table.

“Thankfully, it was.” The purple-haired Gymleader chuckled. “Though if not for the video-footage, I think I might have had trouble getting it. Terrorist-acts that ‘melt’ the darn thing were not included.” She shook her head with a small smile. “I thank Arceus my brother works with that company, that saved me some trouble.”

“Would that fall under nepotism?” The present lawyer wondered, leaning his chin on his hand. “I feel dubious about this.”

“Not sure you can talk about that, dad.” Oizys appeared at his side, offering him a map. “You made me your secretary.”

“True.” He accepted both the map and the statement with grace. “Is this all?”

“All I could find on this short notice.” The green-haired female shrugged lightly. “Still waiting for some things.”

“You are really multitasking, are you not?” Cynthia demanded, looking at the map.

“This is not the only project I am working on.” He put the folder to the side. “While certainly the most magnificent one, not the only one by far.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After lunch, Fantina was paying closer attention and Allortan seemed to be sorting the papers his daughter had brought earlier.

Ending the day was the head of the Kalosian League, speaking of the legal precedents under which the entire mess fell. Diantha suddenly realized what the lawyer had meant when he had likened himself to a Sharpedo when he hit a point in court. She was pretty certain his eyes flashed when his full attention shifted to the man talking up front.

“Everything alright?” She leaned over, having to hang half in front of Steven.

“Sort of. Can anyone ask questions?” He looked from her to the man. “I am not sure how much this is like court.”

“You can.” The Champion answered. “I guess you found a thing.”

“No, I just want some clarification.” He rose from his seat. “If the inquiry permits. I’d rather not that I have to stumble through this half-blind.” Some people grumbled at that, foreseeing that it would certainly end up lengthening the proceedings even more.

“The Kalosian Gymleaders consent.” Despite not being the designated person for this, Olympia spoke up calmly.

Before someone could speak up about that, someone else spoke up. “The Sinnohan Gymleaders consent.” Fantina had put aside everything and was leaning forward on both arms.

Steven and Diantha shared a confused glance, but gave their Champion’s consent, starting a short flood of consents sounding throughout the room until a majority allowed the lawyer to do his thing.

“I’ll try to keep it short.” Allortan meandered over. “I just want to be certain that I understand everything. There were no electives about League Rules during my Law-studies and the quick read might not have been enough.” There was something about his tone that made Diantha feel like she had to be on guard, despite him being her ally for all intents and purposes. “In short, above a certain bureaucracy level, League-members may not have a criminal record of any kind, may they?”

“Minor things might get a pass, but yes, most forms immediately disqualify a person.”

“Domestic Terrorism, among others, I presume?” A small grin formed on his face when the League-member confirmed. “For the sake of being complete, I assume having atoned due to fines or prison-time makes no difference.” He ignored the voice in the audience groaning that that had already been covered during an earlier day, waiting until he got the official affirmative.


	11. Chapter 11

“Then I only have one real question left...” Allortan leaned back lightly, resting on the table he had been sitting at. “How utterly incompetent are the people that do vetting around here?”

“Pardon?” The higher official blinked a few times, utterly confused at what the other was getting at. “How is… what is…?”

“How are people vetted if ‘domestic terrorism’ is an immediate turn-down?” The lawyer looked far more innocent than his question would make people believe.

“Perhaps the fact that people didn’t expect Diantha to start dabbling in that?” Lance muttered perhaps a touch too loudly. “I think Lysandre is really not relevant here.”

“He is though...” Allortan countered, gesturing to the older male. “I have four different people who independently informed me that he was convicted – roughly 2,5 decades ago – of 6 counts of domestic terrorism, among others.”

“I think Diantha is grasping for straws.” A smug voice came from the front. “Perhaps….”

“Six counts of domestic terrorism, two murders, three attempted murder...” Fantina’s voice cut through his smug demeanor. “One of which was mine.” She looked up calmly from the notebook she had been working on. “Shall I continue?”

“I think that is enough for now.”

Cynthia suddenly knew why her colleague had insisted on coming, resisting the urge to demand why the Hearthome Gymleader had not told her about this. That could wait until they were in the hotel again. Not much longer than that though, because attempted murder was not something you should drop on a person all of a sudden.

“I think we need some more information about that...”

“You cannot be taking them serious.” The old man’s voice positively dripped with disdain.

“Yes, yes… women have their brains somewhere far south.” Fantina sharply spoke up, glowering at him. “I know your talk very well, so spare us both the bother, won’t you?”

“Fantina.” Allortan warned her softly. “Let me handle this, ma chère.” Her gaze darkened and she leaned back, but did no longer speak up. “As Lady Fantina so… clearly pointed out, there have been accusations of things I’d personally rather not have anywhere near children.” He continued. “Not to distract from what is happening here regarding Diantha and Steven – because domestic terrorism in general should not be a thing – but… how do people say… He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at them.”

B oth Fantina and the old man were  both glowering at him, though for different reasons.

“These are serious accusations.” One of the higher-ranked League-members remembered that they were supposed to be in charge. “Besides Fantina’s word, what proof do you have?”

“Three more words, as well as the documentation of the trail and Monsiour Lombardt’s recent travels.” The young lawyer reached over the table for his bag, pulling the map his daughter had delivered him earlier that day from it. “Copies of the summary are in here, if you wish them.”

“Yes, please.” The woman leaned forward with hand outstretched, adjourning the proceedings the moment she had the map in her hand.

The older man stormed off as quickly as his bad legs would allow. Fantina passed him by as she walked up to the front, both glaring at one another briefly. Cynthia followed her Gym Leader, intending to demand an explanation at the first chance she got.

Diantha rose from her seat, rounding the desk to the two men and purple-clad Gym Leader. Before she even got there, Fantina was already turning to leave.

“Let her.” Allortan stopped Cynthia from following the other Sinnohan woman.

“She just let us all know she nearly got murdered at some point.” The blonde countered with just a hint of anger. “That is not something you just throw into the group and then walk away from.”

“I know very well what happened.” He took hold of her shoulder. “Fantina was furious when finding he was involved.”

“I heard that through the walls.” Lucian added softly, joining his Champion even as several other Leagues filled out. Most of the Kalosian Gymleaders staid behind, though they lingered near the benches where they had been sitting. “I assume she called you immediately as well?”

“From what I gathered, yes.” The lawyer nodded lightly, running one hand through his hair. “Alas, I am not that involved in League-matters, so I do not know how quickly, but I assume it was quickly.”

“You didn’t by any chance save any copies of that trail-documentation for us?” Steven demanded, arms crossed while one hand toyed absentmindedly with his Mega-stone. “I do quite want to know what exactly resulted in that list of crimes.”

“I want to know how that apparently passed under their radar.” Wulfric spoke up, looking darkly at the door the higher administrative staff had left.

“Same.”


End file.
